Underpants

ABSTRACT

Underpants, provided to be worn particularly underneath sports pants, especially underneath biker pants, comprise a front part and a rear part. In the crotch area, a seat padding is provided. To avoid disturbing seams in the crotch area which possibly would cause pressure sores or grazing, the seat padding is arranged between the front part and the rear part. To achieve this, for instance, a crotch part of the underpants is removed so that only the seat padding is provided in the region of the crotch. The connection of the seat padding with the front part and the rear part of the underpants is realized exclusively in the edge regions outside the seat area.

The invention relates to underpants to be worn underneath sports pants, especially underneath biker pants. Further, these underpants can be provided in the form of inner pants which are tightly connected to the sports or biker pants.

In biker pants, it is known to sew a seat padding to the crotch area so as to prevent pressure sores and the like caused by the saddle. Sewed-in crotch paddings, however, suffer from the disadvantage that their seams may cause pressure sores. Such seams which possibly will get into immediate contact with the skin can also lead to grazing.

To avoid seams in sports pants, particularly biker pants, so-called seamless pants without outer seams have been developed in order to avoid disturbances incurred by seams. However, the advantages of substantially seamless biker pants which e.g. have no seams on the outer and inner sides of the trouser legs, will be reduced again when such pants have a seat padding sewed into them.

In elastic, tight-fitting trousers with sewed-in seat paddings, it is a further disadvantage that folds are generated while the seat padding is being sewed into place. Folds, too, will reduce the comfort to the wearer and may cause pressure sores.

It is an object of the invention to provide underpants to be worn underneath sports pants, especially underneath biker pants, wherein the crotch area is free of disturbing seams.

According to the invention, the above object is achieved by the features of claim 1.

The underpants according to the invention comprises a front part and a rear part. These parts are, if desired, of a one-pieced configuration, and they are attached to each other on the side, e.g. by a seam. In the crotch area, the pants of the invention are provided with a seat padding, wherein, according to the invention, the seat padding is arranged between the front part and the rear part. In this arrangement, a connection between the front part and the rear part of the underpants is provided only in the edge areas of the seat padding which are facing to the front and to the rear. According to the invention, no connection between the seat padding and the front or rear part of the underpants exists in the longitudinal direction of the seat padding, i.e. on those outer edges of the seat padding which internally abut on the thighs. Thus, according to the invention, this particularly sensitive area is left free of seams.

Since it has been found sufficient to attach the seat padding to the front and rear parts only in the above edge areas, seams and the like in the seat area can be avoided. Thus, grazing and pressure sores caused by seams are precluded. According to the invention, the seams have been displaced away from the seat area, with the seat padding at least slightly extending beyond the seat area and being connected in this region to the front part and resp. the rear part of the underpants. The connection edge, such as e.g. a seam, between the front part or the rear part and the seat padding, is arranged in an area which during cycling will be stressed only slightly or not at all. Particularly, this area is one where no sitting pressure will be transmitted.

In a first embodiment of the underpants of the invention, the crotch area of the underpants has been “removed” and replaced by a seat padding which is preferably connected, e.g. sewed, to edges outside of the crotch area which are arranged on the lower end of the front part and the rear part of the underpants. Thus, in this embodiment, the seat area is free of a connection between the front part and the rear part. Exclusively the seat padding is provided in the seat area. The seams in turn have been displaced into the edge areas of the seat padding where the seat padding is not in abutment on the saddle anymore.

In a further preferred embodiment, the front part and the rear part of the underpants are connected to each other by a web portion. Thereby, the stability of the pants and thus their strength are improved. The web portion is preferably arranged outside the seat padding so that exclusively the seat padding is in abutment on the body and the web portion cannot cause any pressure sores etc. In this embodiment, the seat padding is arranged to extend beyond the web portion preferably on both lateral sides. Thus, the web portion only improves the stability of the pants without, however, impairing the comfort to the user.

In a further embodiment, the web portion has substantially the same shape as the seat padding. Thus, the web portion is effective to support the whole seat padding, with the web portion preferably located outside the seat padding. In this embodiment, however, it is also possible to arrange the web portion within the seat padding since, due to the substantially identical sizes and shapes of the web portion and the seat padding, no disturbing edge will be generated. Substantially, in this embodiment, the longitudinal edges of the web portion are arranged to overlap with the longitudinal edges of the seat padding. In this embodiment, it is particularly preferred that the connection between the seat padding and the front part or the rear part of the underpants is realized exclusively outside the seat area, i.e. in the edge region between the seat padding and the front part or the rear part.

In a further preferred embodiment, the web portion is configured to extend beyond the seat padding on both sides. This offers the advantage that the web portion serves as a substitute for a flap portion so that the inside thigh regions are protected. Also in this embodiment, the web portion can be arranged inside or outside the seat padding. This means that the seat padding can be provided either internally or externally of the underpants. Also in this embodiment of the invention, no connecting seams or the like are provided in the seat area. The connection between the seat padding and the underpants is again performed only in the front edge region and resp. the rear edge region of the seat padding, by attachment to the front part and resp. the rear part of the underpants.

An essential preferred feature of all of the above described embodiments of the invention resides in that the connection of the seat padding to the front part and resp. the rear part is exclusively provided in the edge region arranged outside the seat area. Thus, the seat area does not include any seams which could cause grazing or pressure sores.

The attachment of the seat padding to the front part and resp. the rear part of the underpants can be realized e.g. by sewing. Since the seams are arranged outside the seat area, they will have no disturbing effect. Particularly, it is possible to establish the connection between the front or rear parts of the underpants and the seat padding by thermal welding or ultrasonic welding. A further advantageous possibility resides in a connection by bonding. For this purpose, silicone is particularly useful. In the above described embodiments with web portion, the connection of the web portion to the seat padding can be carried out by bonding or welding. In this regard, it is imperative to avoid the generation of welding seams or bonding edges which would contact the skin and cause pressure sores etc. Particularly when establishing the connection through bonding or welding, this can be performed in areal fashion only on individual selected points or e.g. along lines. The attachment of the seat padding of the underpants will however not require that the web portion be connected to the seat padding. Instead, such a connection would merely further improve the stability of the underpants.

In a further embodiment of the underpants of the invention, it is provided that, in the crotch area, the upper layer of a seat padding is laminated with the underpants. Likewise, the underpants can form part of sports pants, especially biker pants, in whose crotch area the upper layer of a seat padding is again laminated with the underpants.

Thus, one can use underpants with laminated seat paddings which offer high comfort to the wearer. Further, depending on the type of stress, the underpants can be laminated with a thinner or thicker seat padding. Further, underpants with laminated seat paddings of different sizes and shapes can be provided. This in turn has the advantage that the production process of the biker pants can be planned to the effect that the respective customer can select a pair of underpants with a laminated seat padding customized for him or her.

Due to the inventive embodiment of underpants with laminated seat padding, whereby the seat padding and the underpants form a unit, the position of the seat padding in the crotch area of such underpants or of sports/biker pants provided with such laminated underpants is clearly and reliably fixed since the mutual lamination of the seat padding and the underpants will prevent a relative displacement between them.

In an embodiment of bikers pants with underpants, on the other hand, the bikers pants is allowed to move both relative to the underpants with seat padding and relative to the wearer's skin. Thus, according to the invention, a displacement of the bikers pants will not cause the underpants with laminated seat padding to be moved along. This feature will further enhance the comfort to the wearer.

Underpants or bikers pants with underpants wherein the upper layer of the seat padding of the underpants is laminated, are to be considered as an independent invention.

All of the above described embodiments of underpants offer the advantage that the extremely sensitive crotch area which during cycling is subjected to considerable stress is kept free of seams which could result in pressure sores and grazing. Further, it is of advantage that the underpants having the seat padding inserted in the region of the removed crotch part can be washed separately.

Still further, lateral flap portions can be attached to the seat padding and/or the web portion. These flap portions serve for cushioning the inner thighs to prevent grazing and the like in this region. Also, use can be made of seat paddings having flap portions integrally formed thereto.

Thus, one can use underpants with seat paddings which have an extremely high wearing comfort but are not washable or must be washed only by hand. Depending on the type of stress, it may be desirable to provide underpants with a thinner or thicker seat padding.

Further, underpants with seat paddings of different sizes and shapes can be provided. Particularly in the production process of bikers pants, this has the advantage that bikers pants can be manufactured independently of the seat padding and the customers themselves can then select the underpants with the seat paddings suited for them.

Preferably, the underpants are made from an elastic tissue. Thereby, it is safeguarded that the underpants with the inserted or laminated seat padding will fit close to the body and, during movement, will not slide and thus cause grazing. Due to the inventive arrangement of the seat padding in the underpants, the seat padding inserted into the underpants instead of the removed crotch part will keep a predetermined position relative to the body.

Further, the bikers pants are allowed to move both relative to the underpants with inserted seat padding and relative to the skin. According to the invention, a movement of the bikers pants will not entail a corresponding movement of the seat padding connected to the underpants. This represents a still further considerable improvement of the comfort to the wearer.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat padding comprises an upper and a lower padding portion. The two padding portions are preferably connected to each other by welding. According to the invention, edges at the lower end of the front and rear parts of the underpants are connected to the seat padding by arranging them between the padding portions. Advantageously, by the connection of the edges to the seat padding, no external seams or the like will be necessary so that pressure sores and the like are avoided. Preferably, when welding the two padding portions to each other, the edges in the lower region of the front and rear parts of the underpants will be welded into place at the same time. The provision of a seat padding comprising two or more parts is advantageous particularly in the first embodiment which has no web portion. However, also in the embodiments with web portion, particularly in the embodiment wherein the web portion has a smaller width than the seat padding, the provision of at least two padding portions is advantageous, with the web portion in this case extending between these two padding portions. In this arrangement, it is of advantage that the two padding portions are connected to each other after the web portion has been placed therebetween. In this manner, the position of the seat padding in the underpants will have been defined already without the provision of additional welding seams or the like in the edge region, i.e. for connection to the front part and the rear part of the underpants.

An additional advantage of the above described embodiment of the invention consists in that the underpants of the invention will closely adhere to the body. Thus, no movements or only slight movements will occur between the underpants and the body. It will then be possible to wear a pair of outer pants, e.g. sports pants, over the underpants, while the underpants will allow for a certain freedom of movement between the underpants and the outer pants.

Since the seat padding of the inventive underpants is not sewed into place completely, an improved flexibility of the seat padding is guaranteed.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be explained in greater detail hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a first embodiment of the underpants,

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the embodiment of the underpants illustrated in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a second embodiment of the underpants,

FIG. 4 is a schematic partial plan view of the embodiment of the underpants illustrated in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a third embodiment of the underpants, and

FIG. 6 is a schematic partial plan view of the embodiment of the underpants illustrated in FIG. 5.

The illustrated longitudinal sectional view of the first embodiment (FIG. 1) is a vertical sectional view taken between the two trouser legs.

The underpants 10 shown in the longitudinal sectional view (FIG. 1) comprise a front part 12 and a rear part 14 as well as a crotch area 16. In the underpants 10 as illustrated in the sectional view, the crotch area has been removed and a seat padding 18 has been inserted instead.

For connecting the front part 12 and the rear part 14 of the underpants 10, which are preferably made of elastic tissue, to the seat padding 18, the seat padding of the illustrated embodiment is of a two-part configuration. Thus, seat padding 18 comprises an upper padding portion 20 and a lower padding portion 22 arranged opposite to upper padding portion 20. The two padding portions 20,22 are preferably made of a weldable material.

For this purpose, the material of the padding portions 20,22 preferably comprises thermoplastic components which, when welded together along a common surface 24, will melt and each penetrate the fibers, meshes and pores of the two padding portions 20,22. Further, the two padding portions 20,22 can be bonded to each other. Particularly, this can be performed by means of silicone adhesive. For this purpose, it may suffice, depending on the respective case, if the padding portions 20,22 are bonded to each other in their edge regions. A full-faced bonding of the two padding portions along the surface 24 is not positively required.

Further, when assembling the two padding portions 20,22, a suitable thermoplastic material can be supplied on the common surface 24.

When connecting the two padding portions 20,22, edges 26,28 on the lower end of the front part 12 and the rear part 14 of the underpants 10 are arranged between the two padding portions 20,22 and connected to the two padding portions 20,22 by welding or bonding. By such a connection of the edges 26,28 to the seat padding 18, there is realized a seamless attachment of the edges 26,28 and thus of the front part 12 and the rear part 14 of the underpants 10.

Further, seat padding 18 can be of a one-pieced configuration and comprise two opposite slits provided to have the edges 26,28 of the underpants parts 12 and 14 inserted thereinto and attached thereto by welding or bonding.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connection between the front part 12 and the rear part 14 of underpants 10 is established by welding or bonding the edges or edge regions 26,28 of the front part 12 and resp. rear part 14 between the two padding portions 20,22. Further, it is possible to connect the two padding portions 20,22 in the edge regions 26,28 to each other by sewing, or to realize the connection of front part 12 and rear part 14 to padding 18 in these edge regions 26,28 by sewing. In this regard, it is essential that the seams be arranged outside a seat area 30.

In case of underpants having a crotch part of a particularly narrow width, a seat padding having both of its sides laterally extending beyond the narrow crotch part can be inserted into the underpants. Such a seat padding will then be connected to the front part and the rear part of the underpants outside the crotch area, e.g. by sewing the crotch part into place or securing it in position in the underpants in a corresponding manner.

In the description of a second preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, identical or similar components are represented by the same reference numerals as above.

In this embodiment (FIGS. 3 and 4), the front part 12 and the rear part 14 are connected to each other through a web portion 32. In the illustrated embodiment, web portion 32 has the same width in both edge regions 26,28 of the front part 12 and resp. rear part 14. However, the width of web portion 32 decreases inwards, i.e. with increasing distance from the two edge regions 26,28. Thus, those two edges of web portion 32 which are facing outwards, i.e. in the direction of the leg openings of the underpants, are of a concave shape. By connecting the front part 12 and the rear part 14 through the web portion 32, the stability of the underpants 10 is increased. Particularly, the stress acting on the connection in the edge regions 26,28, which can be e.g. a bonding connection, is reduced or relieved by the web portion 32.

In the illustrated second preferred embodiment (FIGS. 3 and 4), the seat padding 18 is formed as a one-pieced member. The connection of seat padding 18 to front part 12 and rear part 14, respectively, is again established in the edge regions 26,28 so that the connection, which can also be a connection seam, is provided outside the seat area 30. However, it is also possible to provide a seat padding comprising two padding portions, which seat padding, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is connectable to the underpants 10, with the web portion 32 preferably extending between the two padding portions.

In a third preferred embodiment (FIGS. 5 and 6), identical or similar components are again provided with the same reference numerals.

The essential feature of this embodiment resides in that a web portion 34, which in the illustrated embodiment is arranged outside the padding 18, is e.g. wider than the padding 18. According to the invention, a widening of web portion 34 is provided in the seat area 30, thus providing flaps 36 extending into the leg openings. If the underpants 10 are being worn, these flaps abut the inner thighs.

The connection of front part 12 and rear part 14 to seat padding 18 is again realized outside seat area 30 in the edge regions 26,28, e.g. by bonding or sewing.

In the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 3-5, particularly in the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the seat padding 18 can also be arranged outside the underpants 10, i.e. be attached to the underpants from below. In this regard, it is especially advantageous to laminate the upper layer of the seat padding 18 with the underpants. The upper layer of the seat padding thus merges directly into the underpants. 

1. Underpants, particularly to be worn underneath sports pants, especially underneath biker pants, comprising a front part, a rear part, and a seat padding arranged in the crotch area, characterized in that the seat padding is arranged between the front part and the rear part.
 2. The underpants according to claim 1, characterized in that the seat padding comprises an upper and a lower padding portion and that the lower edges of the front and rear parts of the underpants are arranged between the two padding portions.
 3. The underpants according to claim 1, characterized in that the front part and the rear part are connected to each other by a web portion which is preferably arranged outside the seat padding.
 4. The underpants according to claim 3, characterized in that the width of the web decreases inwards from the edge regions.
 5. The underpants according to claim 3, characterized in that the web portion has substantially the shape of the seat padding.
 6. The underpants according to claim 3, characterized in that the web portion extends beyond the seat padding on both sides.
 7. The underpants according to claim 1, characterized in that the seat padding is connected to the front part and respectively the rear part exclusively in edge regions arranged outside the seat area.
 8. The underpants according to claim 1, characterized in that the seat padding is in the edge region connected to the front part and respectively the rear part of the underpants by thermal welding.
 9. The underpants according to claim 1, characterized in that the seat padding is connected to the edge regions of the front part and respectively the rear part of the underpants by bonding.
 10. Underpants, particularly according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the seat area, the seat padding is laminated with an upper layer of the seat padding of the underpants. 